Different Worlds Collide
by Heosic-chan
Summary: A strange encounter, and Konoha finds that it has itself a problem... How are the two demon carriers involved? Demons appear, and worlds and stories collide as people find out they have different sides to themselves... AU's
1. Prologue

Hello! This is an idea that I've been thinking about. Mostly inspired by 'My Shadow Your Shadow, Our Shadow' by Mei Neko. It's an awesome story, you should check it out! Anyway, this switches between AU's, and I will be only loosely following the Naruto story line, most of it will be stuff I made up. Hope you enjoy!

Sasuke is still with Orochimaru. Everyone is a chuunin now, Shikamaru and Neji are jounins, and Sai never existed. Naruto and Sakura usually try to do missions together, and all of the teams try to meet up with each other and their sensei frequently. Gaara is Kazekage.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

* * *

Prologue

Two figures were resting on the side of a road when they noticed a familiar presence.

"Looks like we're off again."

"Yes. I wonder if we'll see anyone there?"

Before the other one could answer they were both gone, sucked into the opening of a formidible power.

* * *

A pair of eyes opened in satisfaction. 

"They're on their way."

His subordinate looked up from his work.

"And what does that mean?"

"I meansss that everything is now ssset in motion.

TBC

* * *

A/N- Want to know more? Read the next chapter. -grin- 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Arrival

Gaara had decided to take a break from his Kazekage duties and was currently on the balcony, looking over Suna into the desert. He sometimes wondered why he had taken the job; there have to be so much damn paperwork! At least now he was mentally stable, after the removal of Shukaku. He didn't have to lust after blood, or not go to sleep for fear that he would wake up to unspeakable slaughter and death…

"Sssss..."

He heard the hiss of a snake and turned around, wanting to see if it was poisinous or not. What he didn't expect was a snake that had to be at least twenty feet long, and that looked like it had crawled up from the pits of hell. It's eyes were horribly distended and it had spikes sticking out of its' skin. It's open mouth was dripping poison that sizzled when it hit the ground. The killing intent it was radiating was so intense the Kazekage found himself frozen, unable to move or speak as it reared its head back to strike poison straight into his heart...

"Fucking... snake!"

Gaara blinked. Someone had come in between him and the snake... thing. The figure thrust one of it's arms out to the side, and Gaara could see sand gather around it's hand. With a sudden vicious gesture it threw the sand toward the snake, hitting it with multiple grains that went through its flesh like miniture bullets. It hissed and shrieked with pain. It would have thrashed around as well, but it was covered with a thick covering of sand.

"Die."

Gaara witnessed the familiar sight of a creature being crushed by sand. Blood splatterd all over the balcony; it was black blood... definitely not a normal color.

'_This person... can control sand as well?'  
_

"Are you-"

The figure never finished it's sentence as it turned around, seeing him for probably the first time.

"…What?." both of them gasped at the same time.

Twin eyes of emerald stared at each other.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura were on a mission. What was the mission, you might ask? Simple: find a cat. A stubborn, angry cat that did not want to go home, and who was trying to make the two ninja's lives as miserable as possible. After losing sight of the cat for the hundredth time, they had decided to split up in the forest to see if they could find the accursed thing. Naruto smelled out its trail with help from Kyuubi and was currently trying to sneak up on it. He had almost grabbed it when it seemed to sense his presence, and with a scared yowl it ran away as though the very devils of hell were chasing it. Naruto frowned. 

'_Damn, I almost had him! Did he sense me or some... thing…?'_

His thoughts trailed off as he caught sight of the thing the cat had apparently sensed. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the familiar figure of a gigantic snake. However, it was no ordianary giant snake; this snake had a sort of rough brown armor around it, and it's eyes were sightless, white, red-veined orbs. The eyes turned towards him and he froze, unable to tear his gaze away. Naruto tried to move, but he couldn't. The snake slithered closer and closer, eyeing him with those eyes that should have no sight...

_'No. I don't want to die like this! I still have to become Hokage and bring back Sasuke!'_

The demon carrier could only watch as the beast slithered towards him, jaws opening to swallow him whole.. but it never quite made it.

"Fox fire!"

Naruto watched as the snake suddenly burst into flames, hissing in agony. Soon it was reduced to ash which blew away in a sudden wind. Naruto found that he was breathing as if he had just run a marathon, and that he was shaking.

_'What the hell... why am I so... afraid?'_

"Are you okay?"

Naruto had almost forgotten he had yet to thank the person who had saved him. He looked up.

**"****W-what the hell?"**

**

* * *

**  
Gaara stared. It was himself… but female. She had red hair pulled back in a ponytail that reached a couple of inches past her shoulders, and his trademark green eyes with a thick black lining around them. Also, she had the symbol 'ai' carved into her forehead, just like him. The only difference between them was… well, she was a girl. Other than that they were pretty much carbon copies of one another. The girl seemed surprised as well; she stared for a bit then slowly came towards him.

"Um... hi?

Gaara snapped back into reality and quickly took a few steps back from the girl.

"…Who are you?"

The girl smiled slightly, even though she sensed mass distrust from the boy.

"My name's Garra. By any chance, is your name similar to that?"

* * *

The girl before Naruto could have been his twin sister. She had short spiky blonde hair like him, except hers was slightly longer. She also had the same blue eyes and distinctive whisker marks on her cheeks. One of Naruto's first thoughts was that his sexy-no-jutsu wasn't exactly what he would look like as a girl; after all, the girl in front of him looked nothing like his imagined female form! She looked like him, just... a girl. She looked surprised for a moment, but then smiled and walked towards him.

"Hi, my name's Naru! Anou... what's your name, oniichan?"

TBC

* * *

There goes the first chapter. Why are female versions of Gaara and Naruto suddenly appearing? How will the boys react? How will everyone else react? You have to read the next chapter to find out! 

Please review, I want to know what you think so far!


	3. Chapter 2

Authoress here! Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Naruto.

* * *

Chapter 2: The Girls 

Gaara stared at the girl in front of him.

"…How do you know my name? Why…"

"Why do I look like you, what was that thing that attacked you, and who the hell am I, right?'

"….Yes."

"Maybe we should sit down, this could take a while."

* * *

Naruto closed his eyes, pinched himself, and then opened them again. The girl was still there. 

"Y-You… I…"

"You want to know who I am and what I'm doing here right? And what that freaky thing was?"

"…WELL, YEAH!"

"Jeez, no need to yell. Um, do you want to sit down or something? You look slightly disturbed."

* * *

Gaara took a deep breath and opened the balcony doors to his office… to run into Temari and Kankuro. 

"Gaara, are you okay? We heard somthing from outside and…"

Temari's voice trailed off as she stared at the girl next to Gaara. Garra looked at her for a moment then smiled slightly.

"You're Temari right? And that's Kankuro…"

They both stared at her, too shocked to answer. Garra sighed then walked into the office and sat in a chair.

"I think you should all sit down. I'll try to explain things to you, but it's going to sound weird to say the least.

* * *

Naruto was about to collapse on the ground when Sakura ran into the clearing. 

"Naruto, are you okay? I felt some weird chakra in the area so I came to check… WHAT THE HELL?"

Naru looked at Sakura with amusement.

"Heh, you look like Sakura-baachan! 'Cept you're younger than she is!

The two ninja looked at her, jaws hanging on the ground. Naruto was the first to find his voice. .

"I think that we should bring her to Tsunade- baachan."

Sakura merely nodded. Naru grimaced.

"Is she the leader of this place or something? Man, I hate talking to them, they're so boring! Oh well, where does she live? Let's go and get this over with!"

* * *

The three sand siblings were trying hard not to have nervous break downs. Garra thought for a moment. 

'_Now, how should I put this…?'_

"Okay, first of all you want to know why I look like Gaara and why I knew all your names right?"

They nodded.

"Well… I'm not from this world. I travel around with my friend and we help people battle demons and various other spiritual beings. I've heard that in other worlds there are other versions of yourself, but I've never seen it until now. Trust me, this is as weird to me as it is to you, I'm just coping better 'cause I'm somewhat used to weird things by now."

"...So the thing that attacked me was a demon?"

"Yep. You've been around a demon haven't you? The other demons tend to attack people with special abilities or connections to demons first."

Gaara knew that Garra was telling the truth; what other explanation could there be?

'_It sounds ridiculous, but… there's no denying that I was attacked by a demon, or that she looks exactly like me.'_

"So you're saying… that you're another version of Gaara?"

Temari looked really stressed out. Kankuro was about the same.

"Yep. We kind of share the same soul, even though we're different people. We could have been brought up in completely different situations, be completely opposite from one another, or whatever, but we're still the same person kind of."

"…So there's other versions of us in some other world?"

Garra looked at Temari and Kankuro and they swore that they saw sadness in her eyes... but also tenderness.

"Yes, you guys look exactly like my older siblings."

The sad look in her eyes increased, and the two older sand siblings wondered what could have caused it… then Gaara spoke.

"You mentioned a partner; where is he?"

"Actually, I'm not sure. Usually we end up together, but I guess she got put with someone else who was likely to be targeted. Do you know anyone who's associated with a demon or something?"

"…Yes."

"Good, she's probably with that person. If he's a friend don't worry, Uzumaki Naru is on the job!"

"WHAT?"

* * *

Tsunade stared at the girl in front of her and felt a headache coming on. A major headache. 

"So your name is…?"

"Uzumaki Naru!"

Tsunade turned to the former members of team 7.

"Naruto, you say she saved you from a monster in the forest?"

"It wasn't a monster, it was a demon. So baachan, do ya want to know who I am or not?"

Tsunade smacked her on the head.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING BAACHAN, GAKI?"

Naru clutched her head.

"Itai! That hurt baachan! And my name's Naru, not gaki!"

Tsunade massaged her forehead.

"Well Naru, would you mind explaining who you are, what you're doing here, and why you look like Naruto?"

Naru sighed; it was hard enough explaining normally, but now she had another version of herself here!

"Okay, I'm here because the powers that be decided that it wasn't that guy's-

She pointed to Naruto.

"-time to die yet. I'm a guardian; my partner and I travel in between worlds helping people with demons and things. I look like that guy because I'm another version of him. You usually never see your other self, but I guess I got lucky."

"…So you're a female version of Naruto?"

"I guess. Just because we look alike it doesn't mean that we're the same. Well, we might be but I don't know yet. Anyway, he was attacked because because he's a jinchuuriki. . They wanted to get rid of him before he could cause trouble or bacause they wanted his power; they always do that."

"Who's 'they'?"

"Could be a demon or human. It doesn't really matter, becuase they're both bad; but sometimes... its worse if they're human.

"So basically you've been sent to protect Naruto against demons?"

"Probably, but it could be more than that. I have to find my partner and see if she knows what's up…"

"Who is your partner anyway?"

"Huh? Oh, her name's Garra!"

There was dead silence.

"HUH?"

* * *

The three sand shinobi stared at Garra. 

"…Uzumaki Naru?"

"Yep! She's a good fighter; she'll be able to protect this guy. By the way, who is he?"

"…Uzumaki Naruto."

"…Wow, that's going to be interesting. Does he live over that way?"

She pointed in the direction of Konohagakure.

"…Yes, how did you know?"

"I can definitely sense a demonic aura over there. Since you know the guy and where he lives, could you you show me where? You're all going with me, because if you don't you'll be attacked again."

Gaara thought about it. This was all insane, but… he couldn't forget the evil aura that the demon had radiated off. Besides, Naruto was an ally right? I'd been a while since he'd seen him... not since Naruto saved him from the Akatsuki actually. He made a decision.

"Temari, start packing to go to Konohagakure. Kankuro, send a message to the Hokage that we will be visiting, and inform her of the situation. I will find someone to fill in for me while we're gone."

Temari and Kankuro nodded and left the room. Gaara started to fill out some papers.

"Gaara-san, can I have a map of this country? One that includes this town and Konohagakure?"

"…Yes. Why do you need it?"

"You didn't think that we were going to walk there, did you? It would take way too long and be a waste of energy. I'm going to transport us there."

* * *

The three people in the room stared at Naru. Naruto broke the silence. 

"So… you travel with a person named Garra?"

"Yeah. Does she exist here too? Red hair, green eyes with a black outline, 'ai' tattoo on her head?"

"…Exactly, 'cept he's a boy."

"Oh. Jeez, wonder what she thinks about that…"

Suddenly the conversation was interrupted as a bird appeared above Tsunade's desk. She recognized it as a sand messenger.

"State your message."

It bowed slightly.

"Kazekage-sama would like me to inform you that he is coming for a visit to discuss matters of vast importance. He should be here… about now."

Tsunade was about to ask him what he meant by that when a sphere of sand appeared in the middle of the office. When it dissipated in the middle stood both Gaara's, Temari, and Kankuro. Naru squealed.

"GARRA!"

She glomped Gaara… the wrong one. Gaara tensed when he felt her arms around him.

'_A female Naruto is hugging me… WTF?'_

Female Garra was amused.

"Wrong Gaara Naru, you baka."

Naru realized her mistake. She let go of male Gaara and grinned.

"Sorry! GAA-CHAN!"

This time she glomped Garra. Garra grinned and patted her on the head. The room's occupants stared. Seeing a smiling Garra who was not afraid of human contact was… scary. To say the least. The two noticed the stares and Naru reluctantly peeled herself off Garra.

"So, did you explain to them Gaa-chan?"

"Yes, I did."

"Okay! Hey baachan, is it okay if we wander around the town and see if we can sense anything unusual?"

Tsunade was about to tell the gaki to not call her baachan when an ANBU guard burst in.

"Hokage-sama! Strange beasts have appeared on the training grounds, and are attacking at random!"

Garra and Naru snapped to attention immediately. They turned to the guard.

"Show us where!"

The ANBU looked at Tsunade, who nodded her consent. Then everyone in the room hurried to the training grounds.

* * *

Gai, Asuma, their teams, and Kakashi were trying to hold off the beasts. One of them was dead from a slit throat, but the three others were circling around trying to find an opening. All of them were about to leap when help appeared. 

"FOX FIRE!"

"SABAKU KYUU!"

Suddenly the dogs were either on fire or crushed by sand. Garra and Naru looked around for more adversaries. They found nothing. Garra let her sand back into the gourd and Naru withdrew her fire. The girls were suddenly aware that they were being stared at. They turned around to face the teams of Asuma and Gai, who were looking at them in shock along with their sensei. Kakashi turned to Tsunade.

"Tsunade-sama... what's going on?"

TBC

* * *

Wow, I wrote a long chapter! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it! Okay, next chapter how will everyone respond to the girls? And what's with all of this freaky stuff? See you next chapter! 

Please review, I want to know what you think!


	4. Chapter 3

Thanks to all of my reviewers, you rock! Here's the next chapter, hope you don't get too confused!

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the original Naruto characters.

* * *

Chapter 3: The Journey 

Kakashi had been having an ordinary day. He had arrived late as usual, gotten yelled at by Naruto and Sakura as usual, and seen them off on their D-class mission as usual. Then he had greeted Asuma and Gai when they arrived with their teams. That was when the day had gotten pretty unusual. All of the people present had suddenly found themselves facing terrifying demon-like things that didn't seem to die easily, and that were advancing on them with bloodlust in their eyes. Then things got even more unusual: they were saved by none other than Naruto and Gaara… but they were female. Kakashi checked them with his sharingan; nope, still female. Then he saw the regular Gaara and Naruto standing next to the Gondaime. There was really only one thing to ask.

"Tsunade-sama... what's going on?"

* * *

Team Asuma and team Gai stared at the two girls who had saved them. Most of them were thinking things along the lines of, 'WTF?' and, 'Naruto and Gaara can look pretty?' Garra was wearing an overlarge black Chinese shirt with gold embroidering and black pants, along with the usual shinobi sandals. Naru was wearing an orange Chinese style tunic that reached to her mid-thigh, along with black pants and sandals. They were looking back at the teams with expressions of utmost shock. 

"WHAT THE HELL?"

This was shouted by both parties at the same time. The two otherword girls started to converse with each other rapidly.

"I know she said that you have almost no chance of running into your other self, but what are the chances of running into a lot of peoples you know?"

"Yeah, and some of them are the wrong gender and stuff!"

"Heh, I bet some of them would flip if they knew.."

"HOKAGE-SAMA!"

Tsunade turned to Kakashi.

"Um, yes I believe an explanation is in order. All of you please come to my office and I'll try to explain."

* * *

(About an hour later) 

"…So as you all see, these girls are the only ones who can help us out of our present situation. Do you all understand?"

The shinobi still looked a little dubious, but what else could they believe? Giant demon-dogs didn't just pop out of nowhere. Gaara asked Garra something that had been bothering him for a while.

"...Why would demons show up here? Our world does have some demons, but most of them are sealed into jinchuuriki. "

Naru started to explain.

"Someone let them in here. We don't know who or why, but they have to have opened a gate into this world from... well, I guess you could call it hell.

The room suddenly took on a very serious atmosphere. Tsunade spoke.

"So you're saying that someone in this world is trying to gain something by letting in demons?"

"Exactly. It's kinda weird that we were sent to this world though; 'Ruka-sensei said that usually they don't send you to worlds with other selves 'cause it can cause problems."

"…Who knows? We'll probaly find out sooner or later though. Everything has a reason behind it, you just have to find out what it is.

Everyone turned to stare at Garra, who had a contemplative look on her face.

"Have any of you ever gone world traveling? As in between different worlds?"

Everyone shook their heads as negative. Garra smirked.

"You should try it, it can be very interesting...

Suddenly the office was crackled with a strange energy source. A swirling vortex appeared on the ceiling. They all looked up in shock while Garra and Naru shot looks at each other.

"Whatever you do, don't panic!"

Then some of the shinobi disappeared into the vortex, leaving their shocked sensei, fellow students, and Tsunade staring after them in shock.

* * *

Naruto was shocked when he appeared in the air several feet off the ground. He landed flat on his face and was about to pick himself up when something heavy landed on his back. He groaned in pain and turned around to see Gaara laying on him. Naruto's face flushed red, Gaara's eyes widened, and they immediately rolled off each other. Temari, Kankuro, Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji, and Lee also landed. Naruto was the first to speak. (who else?) 

"What the hell? Where are we, and how did we get here?"

"Well, we're in another world and we were transported here by whoever controls the gate (aka the vortex)."

Said Naru cheerfully. All of the shinobi then turned to the girls, looking for guidance.

"Luckily for you guys we landed in a safe plave. The Harusame onsen Yadoya (Spring Rain Hot-spring Inn) is right around here, so we can get you guys acquainted with traveling and everything."

* * *

They all started the treck up a path to the Harusame Yadoya. This world was very green, with many trees and floweres. The sky was blue and clear with a few clouds floating lazily above, and Shikamaru really wanted to lie down on the grass and cloud watch. When they fianlly reached the Harusame, the shinobi looked around appreciatively; it was a very nice inn, with a nice reception place. The only problem was… no one was there to greet them. Naru looked slightly exasperated. 

"Grr, where is that lazy ass? Probably slacking off… OI, SHIKA! ARE YOU GOING TO GREET YOUR GUESTS OR NOT?"

They waited at bit. A loud groan was heard as a girl in a green kimono appeared, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Mendokusai… I was sleeping, Naru. So loud... "

She trailed off as she stared at the group of Shinobi, who stared right back. It was like looking at Shikamaru's twin sister; she had her hair in the usual spiky ponytail and her face held a perpetually bored and laxy expression. Her eyes flickered over the group but if she was surprised she didn't show it.

"Welcome to the Harusame Yadoya. I'll show you guys to some rooms. In case you didn't hear Naru scream my name, its Shika."

Shika led them down a hall to two rooms that would both hold several people, one for the boys and one for the girls. Then she looked at Garra and Naru.

"So am I going to get an explanation for this?"

The two girls nodded and then Shika turned to the shinobi.

"The onsen (hot-springs) are farther down the hall. Boys turn left and girls turn right. You guys look like you could use a good soak. The towels and yukata are in the rooms."

Then she left with the two girls following her.

* * *

The boys sank into the hot water with a sigh; they really needed to relax and think. Naruto stared dreamily into space while Gaara had his hands wrapped around his knees brooding; Neji and Shikamaru were both watching the clouds, and Kankuro had his head down, staring at the water. Lee was swimming laps ( It was a big onsen). The minerals in the water did their magic and all of the boys felt themselves relax and enjoy the hot water. 

"Well this is unusual."

Naruto's head swiveled around in shock; he knew that voice. It was a voice that he thought he would never hear again in the land of the living…

"...Haku?"

TBC

* * *

Hee, another character appears! Later I'll try to get more into the characters histories and whatnots, especially Garra and Naru's. What will happen with Haku? Tune in next chapter to find out! 

Please review, I love feedback! -smile-


	5. Chapter 4

Hee, here's the next chapter! Love to all of my reviewers! -glomp-

Um, I'm making Naruto, Naru, Gaara, -Garra fifteen okay? You guys can figure out everyone else's ages from there.

Don't own Naruto.

* * *

Chapter 4: The Onsen 

The other boys looked up to stare at the newcomer also. -Haku had long black hair that reached down past his shoulders, and extremely feminine features. Only his obviously male chest and the fact that he was in the men's bath proved that he was, in fact, male. -Haku continued to speak.

"We don't get many human males here, believe it or not. It's really unusual to see a large group. So where do you guys come from?"

Naruto chose to speak for the group.

"Ah, we're from Konoha! I'm Naruto and these people are Gaara, Neji, Shikamaru,Chouji, Lee and Kankuro."

"…I need my glasses."

-Haku took out his glasses, put them on, stared, blinked, and stared again. Then (to everyone's surprise) he started to laugh.

"hehehe! Kami-sama…"

-Haku got into the water.

"So, who did you come here with?"

"Garra and Naru."

"Did you meet Shika yet?"

"Uh, kinda. All she did was introduce herself and then she went with Garra and Naru."

"Are those all the people you've met so far who look like you guys?"

"Well, no."

"Who else?"

"…You. Your name's -Haku, right?"

"Yes. Is my other self a girl?"

"Nope, he was a boy."

"Was?"

"…He died."

"...How?"

Naruto stared at him. While -Haku had seemed really cheery earlier, he seemed dead serious now. He was alot like the other Haku...

"Well... The Haku in our world died protecting someone who was precious to him, a man named Zabuza. He took a killing blow for him and in return Zabuza killed his killer. Then he died alongside Haku."

-Haku's lifted his head and gazed at the sky.

"So he died for love? ...Thats good. If I could die protecting a precious person, then I would be happy to die. Just like a couple of people I know..."

-Haku pondered for a bit.

"So, how much do you know about Garra and Naru? Or Shika?"

"Um, not much. It's not like we've really had a chance to talk or anything…"

"You should. They're all pretty interesting, especially Shika. Hey, do you want me to show you around after the bath?"

-Haku had his cheeful face on again, and Naruto smiled at him.

_'If things had been different... Haku might have lived like this one.'_

"Yeah! That would be awesome!"

* * *

Temari turned around when Garra,Naru, and Shika entered the bath. Shika looked exausted and the other two were deep in thought. The three girls slipped into the bath. Temari watched Garra intently; there was something that she wanted to ask… 

"Garra-san?"

"You can call me Garra-chan if you want too. Yes?"

"…What are your siblings like?"

Garra seemed startled by the question, but then her face changed; she smiled warmly and her eyes shone with caring.

"…Well, Temari-nee pretty much raised me and Kankuro-nii. She was strong and independent, and the best big sister I could have hoped for. I looked up to her a lot."

There was obvious affection for her sister in her voice, and Temari felt horribly guilty. Her Gaara never spoke about her like that… not that she deserved it.

"Heh, Kankuro-nii was fun to tease. He was always playing around with his stupid puppets, so I had to practically drag him away from them. He always told me I was a pain, but I knew that he cared… They both did."

"What about your father?"

Gaara's eyes faded, and she had a dead expression on her face when she spoke.

"…I hated him. He's dead now."

Temari decided to drop the subject. Naru put a consoling hand on Garra's shoulder, and she leaned into the comforting contact. They looked over to their friend Shika and noticed that she was asleep.

"Shika! You're going to drown one day if you keep doing that!"

* * *

(Back in Konoha) 

Tsunade stared at the ceiling with disbelief.

"W-what the hell happened?"

"Tsunade-sama? Is that you?"

Everyone in the room looked toward the speaker. Several jaws dropped in amazement; it was Sakura. Except she was older. She looked about twenty-one, and had long pink hair twined into a braid that reached her waist. She was wearing baggy black pants that reached to her ankles and a short sleeved red shirt, with a bag hanging off her shoulders. She was still Tsunade.

"Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade put her head in her hands, her headache now reaching maximum pain level.

"Too much…"

She felt hands on her forehead and suddenly the pain in her head disappeared. She felt calm flow through her, and when the hands left she was all better. She looked up to see a smiling older -Sakura.

"Feel better? I'm surprised; you can usually heal your own headaches. How are you? It's been what, five years since we last met?"

"…I'm sorry, but I'm not your Tsunade."

"Nani?"

"Do you recognize anyone else in the room?"

Older Sakura slowly turned around. Her gaze landed on Sakura and Ino, and she gasped.

"Oh no, you're kidding me. Iruka-sensei was telling the truth…?"

"Did you say Iruka-sensei?"

-Sakura turned toward Kakashi.

"Yes, she let me stay with her after… she let me stay with her for a while. She used to be an active guardian, but now she helps people get back on their feet if they suffer through… stuff. She's also quite knowledgeable about fighting techniques, history, and medicine. She knew some things that even Tsunade-sama didn't know! She's taken care of practically everyone I know."

Regular Sakura looked thoughtful.

"Come to think of it, Naru mentioned something about a 'Ruka-sensei', didn't she? She also mentioned a Sakura-baachan…"

"WHAT? Grr, that gaki (brat), I'm only twenty-one! Wait, Naru was here? Was Garra with her?"

"Yes."

"Those two have better not have injured themselves again, I will kill them if they did!"

Her face suddenly looked scary and she had a tick above her eye. Some of the room's occupants shrank away in fear. Tsunade ventured to speak.

"No, they were not injured. However, they seem to have disappeared into the sky taking some of our young shinobi with them. Do you have any idea where they went or if they're okay?"

"I have no idea where they went, it could be anywhere, but if -Gaara and Naru are with them they'll definitely be okay. _At least, I hope they will be... you never know with those two.  
_

"…Do you know when they will be back?"

"I-

Suddenly a scroll appeared in front of older Sakura. She opened it and started to read out loud.

_Dear Sakura-baachan,_

_Gaa-chan and I were sent to some other world again where we helped them out. Suddenly we were sent to the Harusame Yadoya with some of their people. Guess what? They are a bunch of other selves of people we know! It's kinda weird but also cool. Anyway, we met Shika and I hope that we can find -Neji too. We'll prbably have a gathering for that world, and I was wondering if you were sent there? Hope to see you soon, remeber that yelling gives you wrinkles like and old 'baachan.  
_

_Naru _

"That little… Well, at least they'll have a medic-nin with them this time. Last time... Its a miracle none of them died.

Tsunade felt panic rise in her.

"So the demons aren't gone? There's going to be more of them?"

Sakura smiled kindly at her.

"Unfortunately, yes. You'll have help though, don't worry. The girls can be... interesting at times, but they're all skilled fighters. Has this world ever had a guardian gathering?"

Tsunade frowned and shook her head.

"...So has this village ever hosted demons, half demons, or spirits?."

TBC

* * *

Now, what could Sakura be talking about? -innocent look- Hee, I'm excited… I can't wait to put Iruka and Neji in this! And certain other people who shall remain unnamed… Keep with the story if you want to find out who else makes appearances! -grin- 

Please review, It feeds the soul!


	6. Chapter 5

Okay, like I said earlier, if a different version of a character had the exact same name I will put an dash before their name since the site is evil and banned astericks. For example, Older Sakura would be -Sakura, as opposed to regular Sakura. Hope I didn't confuse you more, thanks to all of the wonderful people who reviewed! And for those who read but didn't review… its okay, I love you anyway! On with the fic!

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the Naruto characters

* * *

Most of the boys dropped on their futons exhausted. Haku had shown them around the entire Yadoya, and it was humongous, almost as big as Konoha! They had also seen various other things lurking around which Haku said were either workers or other guests. Some of them reminded people of summons, some looked human, and some were half animal or something. They had kept themselves out of sight and the boys didn't dare probe any further. The Temari had joined them and now they were all tired. Most of them went to sleep at once, not bothering to say good night. When he was sure everyone was asleep Gaara went up on the roof to stargaze. He was rather surprised that the Harusame onsen seemed busier at night than in the day. 

"Most of their usual guests come at night. Having trouble sleeping?"

Gaara turned around, eyes narrowed. He relaxed only slightly when he realized that Garra was there.

"…Insomnia is a hard habit to break."

"Don't I know it. If it weren't for Naru I probably woudn't sleep at all.

"Hn."

"You're not much of a conversationalist are you?"

"…Why are you here?"

"Couldn't sleep. Too many nightmares... Why are you here?"

"…Thinking."

"I see."

The two sat there in silence for a while, gazing at the sky. Suddenly Gaara thought of something that he wanted to ask the other girl.

"…How did you meet Naru?"

Garra looked at him for a moment then back at the sky.

"It was lonly were I was, slowly losing my sanity, my very purpose and morals also. I wanted to get out, but I couldn't find any way to escape. Then... I found a flame. There was a girl, shining brilliantly in the darkness. She was in pain... so I put out the fire. When she smiled at me, through pain and tears, it was one of the most pure things I had ever seen in that hell. Then... we were transported into the light. Did you have someone who saved you from being consumed in darkness too?

"…Naruto."

'_He pulled me from the darkness when no one else cared. He saw the human in me and forced it to the light, out of the darkness of the demon.'_

Suddenly the girl winked at him.

"You guys were in an interesting position today. Did you like being on top?"

All color left Gaara's cheeks and he stared at her, shocked. Then, almost imperceptibly, his were dusted with a light pink. Garra grinned and pinched his cheek.

"Calm down, I was just teasing you! But you must admit, Naruto is pretty cute. Actually, it seems that our lovely blondes are out right now. Wanna go visit?"

She pulled him on the arm and transported them out of there.

* * *

Naruto woke up when he felt a presence leave the room. 

"Gaara?"

He looked around groggily and noticed that the red-haired shinobi was nowhere in sight. Feeling a bit worried, he pulled his orange jacket on over his yukata and went outside to look for the sand-nin. Then… he got lost. He sweat dropped as he looked at the seemingly endless hallways.

"Lost? Don't worry, when we first came here I got lost all the time!"

He turned around to see Naru grinning at him cheerfully. He grinned back.

"Yeah, I'm a bit lost… what are you doing up?"

Naru started leading him in the direction of the gardens.

"Looking for Gaa-chan. You?"

"Anou sa, me too! I guess Gaara hasn't gotten over his insomnia yet…"

"Same with Gaa-chan. She worries me sometimes. She gets almost no sleep, and doesn't even eat properly! I mean, how can you survive without food? It's unthinkable!"

"Yeah, you're right! Now that you mention it, Gaara doesn't seem to eat much either. He always looks kinda pale and has those circles around his eyes."

"Eh, it looks kinda cute though."

"Heh, maybe. So what should we do when we find them?"

"I say we make them go to sleep then feed them in the morning."

"And how will we manage that?"

"I have my ways… you shall learn the way of the Naru!"

"I just hope Gaara doesn't kill me for this…"

"Why would he? You guys seem friendly."

"Well, I'd like to be… hey, what gave you that idea?"

"Um, when you guys were on top of each other?"

"That was an accident!"

They reached the outside and were momentarily transfixed by the sight of dozens of fireflies, glinting bright against the darkness of night. They sat under a tree to watch.

"Hey Naru?"

"Hai, Naruto?"

"How did you meet Garra?"

Naru smiled.

-Flashback-

Naru lay curled up into a ball, every cell in her body literally burning with pain. She was shrouded in darkness, nothingness, with only her agony soaked screams for company.

'_Otosan! I'm scared! It's never hurt like this before! I can't feel Kyuu-nee! Otosan!'_

She was bleeding, pain and confusion twisting her mind until she cried, cried from the pain, the loneliness, the heat, the guilt… everything. She was falling, with no one to catch her. Falling into the bottomless pit that was her mind… Suddenly, the burning stopped.

'_Something cool… putting out the flames… sand?'_

She opened her eyes and teary red-blue was met with the most beautiful shade of emerald green. Then came those three little words.

"...Are you okay?"

Naru smiled at the girl; through tears and pain she smiled brightly.

"Arigato.

-end flashback-

Naruto stared.

"Um, that sounds… Wow. That's pretty different than what happened with me and Gaara… Wait, you knew your parents?"

"Only otosan. Okasan died soon after I was born. I don't remember her."

"Where's your dad now?"

"I don't know. I thought he was dead, but Iruka-sensei said that he wasn't. She said that she could feel it so I'm waiting for him to come back. What about your parents?"

"I never knew my parents. I don't know anything about my family."

Naru looked at him for a moment with concern in her eyes. Suddenly her face split into a huge grin.

"I know, you can join our family!"

Naruto stared at her.

"I thought you said you didn't know where your dad was."

"I have other family too! There's Gaa-chan, Neji-chan, Iruka-sensei, Shika-chan, Sakura-baachan, Kakako-sensei, 'Tachi-nee… a lot of people! And we add new people all the time!"

Naruto grinned at her.

"So if I join your family, I guess that makes you my sister?"

"Yup! You're always welcome to my family Naruto-kun! Both of 'em!"

Naruto smiled. It wasn't one of his usual fake cheerful smiles, but a real one.

_'So this is what its like to have a sister. She's probably the closest thing i'll ever find to a blood relative.'_

"Arigato."

Another amused voice spoke.

"Hey, all of us weirdo's have to stick together, y'know?"

Naruto and Naru turned around to find Garra and Gaara. The blondes suddenly cracked identical foxy grins.

"GAA-CHAN!"

"GAARA!"

Both Gaara's found themselves glomped. Garra just smiled and ruffled Naru's hair. Gaara looked slightly panicked.

"We were looking for you guys!"

"Hello to you too Naru."

"…Get off."

"Heh, sorry Gaara!"

Both of them unglomped the Gaara's. Naru spoke.

"Okay, you two definitely need to get some sleep! I don't care if you have insomnia, you need to sleep!"

"Yeah! Its not healthy!"

"…This is from someone who practically lives off ramen."

"At least I eat panda boy! Look, I can see your ribs!"

To demonstrate his point Naruto pulled open one of the sides of Gaara's yukata. True to his observation, you could see Gaara 's ribs poking out through his pale flesh. He didn't notice the slight tick growing on Gaara's face... and was that a blush?

"…Let go. NOW."

"Only if you go to sleep!"

"…Okay, now let go!"

Satisfied, Naruto let go of Gaara 's yukata and started to drag him away.

"Naruto-kun!"

"Hai?"

"The rooms are in the other direction."

"Anou, arigato Naru-chan!"

"Don't worry; we'll walk you guys there."

* * *

The Next Day 

When everyone was awake Haku led them into a large room for breakfast. They each sat down at a place and started to eat; the food was delicious. The entertainment wasn't bad either… Naruto and Naru faced down Gaara and Garra.

"Eat."

"Not hungry."

"…Garra, don't make me force feed you again."

Garra got a horrified look on her face.

"…You wouldn't."

"I swear I will do it to both of you, and this time I have back up."

"Yeah! C'mon Gaara, it won't kill you to eat!"

Gaara stubbornly refused. Garra leaned over to whisper to him.

'I would do it if I were you. Naru… is stubborn. If she has help it'll be even worse. Besides, they're just doing it because they're worried.'

Gaara thought about it. Eat or be force fed by two stubborn blonds in front of an attentive audience. Grudgingly, he picked up some food and started eating. Garra started to eat also. The two hyper blondes grinned proudly at each other and the spectators were amazed. Much clapping ensued.

* * *

-Sakura spent the night at the Hokage tower explaining things more to Tsunade. Tsunade had sent everyone home with strict orders not to reveal anything to anybody that did not already know. She just had one little problem… 

"So what should I tell the family's of the gaki who left?"

"Anou, maybe you could say you sent them on a sudden urgent mission?"

"Ah, that's a good idea. So besides the two that we already saw… who else do you think will come to help us?"

"If Garra, Naru, and Shika are going to be here then -Neji is most likely to show up too. We'll probably need one of the more experienced guardians also…"

"So we have to wait for them to show up? What if we get attacked again?"

"I don't sense any immediate danger to this town. If whoever is behind this is aware that there are guardians here they will probably proceed with caution. If there is an attack I should be able to hold them off for for a bit."

"So what are you exactly?"

"I am a healer. I was taught by -Tsunade-sama, along with her other apprentice -Shizune-nee. I thought I was going to be a regular healer, one that travels and tries to help those in need… but then…"

Sakura trailed off and Tsunade could see deep pain in her eyes. Pain that she obviously didn't want to talk about at the moment.

"…Things happened. So instead I somehow became a world traveling healer. Then I met _those four, _and I found a whole new side of healing... and how people's bodies work. Demons and half demons are unpredicatble when it comes to healing... both in body and soul. So... how would the town or elite ninja react to all of this? Are you going to tell them or keep this known to a select few?

Tsunade started to get a very _bad _feeling about all of this…. Think of all the paperwork she would have to fill out!

* * *

TBC 

Hee, what will happen next chaptet? Will we meet someone new? Travel to a new world? Go back to Konoha? Stay tuned to find out! ;)

Please review, it would be nice. :)


	7. Chapter 6

The next chapter... finally. Sorry it took me so long! T.T Okay, I actually revised the whole story so before reading this chapter I would recommend that all you awesome readers go and read this again from the beginning. I changed it quite a bit, so that's what I recommend. Thanks for sticking with me, here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor any of its characters.

* * *

Chapter 6: Speculation 

After breakfast the shinobi all went their separate ways. Shikamaru and Chouji ended up outside, looking for a good place to go cloud watching. They found hill with a tree on top, with an open view of the sky. They both plopped down underneath the tree, staring at the fluffy white clouds floating lazily across the blue sky. It was a peaceful spot; a couple of birds and butterfly's flew by, and the tree offered shade from the sun. They boys lay there quietly, soaking in the natural beauty of the spot. It was Chouji who finally broke the silence.

"Shikamaru?"

"…Yes, Chouji?"

"Why do you think we were sent here?"

Shikamaru closed his eyes and pondered the question. Why were they there?

"I don't know. From what we've heard so far, I conclude that we're probably here for some reason, we just don't know what it is yet."

A new voice suddenly cut into their conversation.

"Knowing those old bastards, you'll probably never find out either. Sometimes it's just too troublesome…"

The boys sat up quickly, looking around them for the source of the voice. Shikamaru stood up and looked behind the tree, Choji following suit. Looking up at them lazily from her position in the grass was Shika. They boys relaxed and decided to sit next to her. The three sat in a comfortable silence, but it was soon broken. Shika suddenly sat up and leaned against the tree. She looked at Chouji.

"Your name… is Chouji, right? And you are…?"

"Shikamaru. Nara Shikamaru."

"Ah. You know…"

The two boys looked at her curiously, sensing a story.

"I had a friend named –Chouji too. He was a nice guy… always laughing and everything. I really have no idea why his family moved to where I lived… not that they stayed."

Shika's eyes were slightly glazed over, as if she were remembering something from long ago. Chouji was understandably curious.

"Why did his family move away?"

"…He almost died. I told him to move before he could get hurt again, or maybe killed. It was partly my fault… If he hadn't seen the scars, then he wouldn't have tried to…"

Her voice trailed off and started rubbing one of her arms, as if it pained her. The boys were slightly confused; which scars? They couldn't see any, on her arms or on her face. She noticed there confusion and decided to change the subject.

'_Mendokusai… _Shikamaru-kun, what are your parents like?"

Shikamaru noticed the blatant change in subject, but decided not to push it.

"Well… my mother is really troublesome, she nags me all the time and is really scary. My father is a ninja, but she still has complete control over him; he's totally whipped."

Shika seemed amused by this.

'_So… he knows both of his parents. His mom… she may nag him but I bet she really cares about him. And his father… well, just being there for his family tells me that he's okay.'_

"Shika-chan?"

"Hai, Chouji-kun?"

"What are your parents like?"

'…_Fuck. Mendokusai….what to say? I can't exactly tell them that my mother was…'_

"…My mother is dead. I never knew my father."

Shika closed her eyes, signaling the end of the conversation. Shikamaru was a little stunned and Chouji was stricken for bringing up such a painful subject.

'_Her mother is dead? She didn't know her father? Mendokusai… I wish that she had said more, now I'm curious. Women are so troublesome…'_

'_Oh no, I shouldn't have brought that up! Poor Shika-chan…'_

Both boys looked back at her to find that she was asleep. Shikamaru decided that was a good idea and lay on the grass for a nap. Chouji decided to stare at the clouds some more, and opened a bag of potato chips.

* * *

Lee and Neji went to an outside practice field to spar. They had been going at it for quite a while, Lee using his awesome taijutsu techniques and Neji using his Byakugan and jyuuken, when they were interrupted. 

"Neji-neesan?"

Neji immediately froze at being called 'older sister' while Lee tried not to laugh at the expression on his teammates face. Neji swiftly turned around to identify the voice and was met with an interesting sight. -Hinata was there in front of him… but definitely different. While regular Hinata was still painfully shy, this one was looking at him with her arms folded across her chest and a confused expression on her face. Her hair was down to her mid-back and she was wearing a pair of thick white pants with a purple sweater. She also had the trademark white, pupil less eyes of the Hyuuga clan. –Hinata strode over to Neji, looked at his face quizzically, then… patted him on the chest. Neji and Lee were shocked speechless.

"…You're a boy."

Now -Hinata was the one who was shocked.

'_This isn't Neji-neesan… so who is this guy and why does he look exactly like her?'_

Lee decided to break the silence by launching into his usual exclamations.

"YOSH! How rude not to introduce ourselves! I am Rock Lee and this is my youthful teammate Hyuuga Neji! May I inquire your name?"

His energetic introduction seemed to break the girl out of her thoughts and she immediately bowed politely.

"How rude of me! My name is Hyuuga Hinata. So…

'_Why the hell do you look like my cousin Neji? Okay, maybe I shouldn't put it like that… Oh what the hell, why not.'_

"…Can I ask why the hell you look like my female cousin Neji and why you have the same name?"

Neji was feeling very confused. Hearing a curse word coming from someone who looked like your usually shy younger cousin was somewhat… disturbing.

"I… according to what I've heard, I'm another version of your cousin –Neji, just as you are another version of my cousin Hinata from my world. Have you heard of this before?"

-Hinata thought a bit, then her face lit up.

"Hai! Neji-neesan told me about that once, she learned it from her sensei. Wow… this is my first time seeing this. So tell me… what is your family like where you live?"

Neji started a little at the question. Why would she ask that all of a sudden…?

"… In the Hyuuga family there is the main house family and the branch house family. Everyone in the branch house family is…"

"Branded with a curse seal which forces them to obey the main house."

Neji didn't try to hide his shock that the other girl knew what he was going to say. Even Lee seemed intrigued. Hinata noticed his expression and smiled gently.

"Yes, I know about it. The same thing went on in my family… until it destroyed them."

"…What?"

"Yes. The whole main house and branch house system blew up in their faces. That's what happens when you enslave your own family… it ends up destroying both sides. Maybe it was for the best… But if it weren't for ojisan no one in the family would have survived. The only surviving Hyuuga members are me, -Hanabi, otosan, ojisan, obachan, and Neji-neesan."

Neji was quiet; this was quite a lot to take in at once.

'_So in another world, the Hyuuga clan was destroyed by its own system and… my parents are still alive?'_

Lee, meanwhile, had hugged a rather freaked out -Hinata with tears running down his face.

"You poor thing! Having so much tragedy in your family while still a youth!"

While having been at first freaked out by the enigma that was Lee, -Hinata softened when she felt his concern and hugged him back.

"Arigato, Lee-san. It's okay though, -Hanabi-chan and I had Neji-neesan to help us through. Also, obachan is like the mother I never knew, and ojisan is helping otosan to be more… human, I guess."

Breaking from Lee's mighty embrace, -Hinata went over to Neji, who was still thinking.

"Neji-kun?"

"…Hai, Hinata-san?"

"Don't worry about what happened to the clan in another world… I'm sure it wouldn't happen again."

Neji turned away from her, but she still heard his muttered, "But what if the clan seems to need it?"

She tuned him around immediately.

"What do you mean?"

* * *

Temari and Kankuro had found something interesting. On top of Garra's bag was a photo album. The two curious sand siblings couldn't help but pry; Temari had told Kankuro about her conversation last night with Garra, and they both wanted to know what her family had been like. Sitting down, they began to flip through it. It was arranged by age, starting with the oldest photos and ending with the youngest. Temari stopped on one photo; a three year old Garra, being read a story by -Temari, clutching an obviously homemade panda doll in her hands and listening with rapt attention. Another showed a five year old Garra being given a piggyback ride from -Kankuro, the former looking gleeful and clutching her bothers hair, and the latter looking slightly annoyed that his poor hair was being abused. When they got to the picture where a seven year old Garra was smiling and flashing a victory sign at the camera along with her two siblings, the two older sand shinobi felt like crying. Temari tried to swallow the lump in her throat; Gaara had never looked that happy around them, especially when he was that young. They had always feared him, avoided him… but what if they hadn't? 

Kankuro wasn't in much better shape than his sister; in the pictures Garra had obviously adored her older brother, and that -Kankuro seemed fond of her too, though annoyed at times.

'_I… never really thought of Gaara as brother back then. If I had… would he have looked at me the same way Garra did her brother?'_

Temari replaced the album on top of the bag and both siblings wordlessly left the room, silent tears of guilt running down their faces.

* * *

Naru and Naruto meandered down the outside path to find a place to train. Naru had asked Naruto if he wanted to spar, and the blonde boy had readily agreed. They found a flat field and decided on the rules. Only taijutsu and ninjutsu were allowed, no genjutsu. They both took fighting stances; a slight breeze blew through and Naruto suddenly lunged. Naru fell backwards and kicked him square in the stomach, causing him to fly backwards. He landed on his feet, hunched over slightly from the pain in his abdomen. 

'_Damn, she can kick hard! I went a little easy on her because she's a girl, but I'm not sure if that's the greatest idea now. Okay, I'll try something to gain an advantage.'_

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Naru was suddenly faced with Naruto clones on all sides. She grinned savagely.

'_So that's how he wants to play, huh? Alright, let's see what you've got!'_

The clones sprang at her simultaneously, but before they could fully reach her she put her arms out in front of her and crossed them.

"Fire arrows: multiple target attack!"

She flung her arms outward and multiple fire arrows fired outwards toward the bunshin. They were all struck by an arrow and disappeared, except for one. The real Naruto dodged the arrow, and back flipped to land at a safe distance away from the fire user.

"What the hell was that! You didn't use any katas or anything!"

"That's for me to know and you to find out!"

Suddenly Naru was right in front of his face, and he brought up his arms to block a kick.

'_She's fast!'_

Both blondes then engaged in a furious taijutsu match. Naruto noticed that Naru was not only fast, she was pretty strong as well. Unless Kyuubi decided to heal him, he was going to have some pretty nasty bruises in the morning… Suddenly Naru swiped his legs out from under him and kicked him in the head before he could hit the ground. Disoriented, Naruto could only lie on the ground clutching his poor throbbing head.

"Itai! Okay, you win! But I'll get you next time!"

Naru perched next to him, a wicked grin on her face.

"Suuuure you will. C'mon, you'll probably want something for your head or you'll die in the morning with a killer headache. Take this for now, it'll make you sleepy later until I can get you some proper medicine."

She gave him a small pill that he swallowed. Naruto got up, his head spinning slightly. Naru grabbed him by the arm to steady him, and they began to trek back up to the Harusame.

* * *

Gaara had finished meditating outside when he sensed two presences approaching. He silently went to see who it was, and was slightly surprised when he saw the two blondes approach. Naruto was clutching his head in pain and Naru was trying to console him. 

"Sorry, I didn't think that I hit you that hard!"

"Don't underestimate your strength!"

Gaara approached the two.

"…What happened?"

Naruto turned his best crying chibi face towards Gaara.

"Naru hurt meeee!"

"I said I was sorry!"

"…Is there anything I can do?"

Both of the blondes looked surprised at Gaara's offer. Gaara himself was kind of surprised; since when had he offered to help people out of the blue?

'_Well, Naruto did kind of save my life once, so why not help him out?'_

Naru smiled at him.

"Thanks Gaara-kun, can you look after the crybaby while I get some medicine?"

"I'm not a crybaby, Naru-baka!"

"You will be if you don't get some headache medicine soon. Just sit down and try not to hit your head against anything, okay?"

With that Naru went down the hall to who knows where. Naruto slumped against the wall, the pain in his head getting the better of him.

'_Aw man, this hurts so bad! Hmm, I'm kinda getting sleepy… thank kami, that sleep medicine's working now!''_

After a moment's hesitation, Gaara sat down next to Naruto. Naruto looked like his head hurt a lot, and Gaara wasn't exactly sure what to do in a situation like this. He calmed down a bit when the blonde's expression became sleepy. Naruto slowly fell asleep, and his head drifted down to land on the sand nin's shoulder. Gaara stiffened at bit at the unexpected contact.

'_He's leaning on my shoulder…'_

Gaara was about to push him off (the guy having certain personal space issues) but then caught sight of the blonde's peaceful sleeping face, free if the pain he had felt earlier. Naruto looked so innocent in his sleep, breathing slowly and peacefully in and out. Gaara relaxed and little and started to relish the warm human contact.

'_Maybe I'll let him stay like this… At least until Naru comes back.'_

TBC

* * *

Hehe, I think this is my longest chapter yet. Okay, so we learned a little more about some peoples history, met another person, and found out that Naru kicks ass. What's next you may ask? If you want to find out... Review! -please?- 

Vocab

oneesan: big sister

oniisan: big brother

ojisan: uncle

otosan: father

okasan: mother

obachan: aunt

obaasan: grandmother

itai: ouch

Please Review, it feeds the soul.


	8. Chapter 7

OMG, this is my longest chapter ever. Wow, i'm really inspired for this story... So, you learn a little more about Shika, and about WTF is going on. Hope u enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own and blah blah blah

* * *

Garra had just finished her early morning training and was trying to find Naru. She was pleasantly surprised when she turned a corner and saw Naruto asleep on Gaara's shoulder, the latter looking slightly uncomfortable and the former looking extremely content. 

'_Awww, Kawaii!'_

She snuck a camera out of her pocket and quietly snapped a picture for her photo album. This alerted Gaara to her presense, and his eyes narrowed at his alter ego.

"…What did you do?"

Garra looked at him innocently, the camera safely pack in her pants pocket.

"I took a picture for my photo album. How could I resist, you two look so cute together!"

Gaara barely kept down a blush. He gave Garra his best death glare.

"…If you show that to people I'll kill you."

Garra waved him off.

"You can try. By the way, if you try to get up to steal this from me Naruto's head will bang into the wall.

"…You're evil."

Garra gave him a grin. It was a scary grin, a grin that said, 'I know something you don't,' and a lesser man would have cringed when confronted with it. Gaara was certainly not a lesser type of man, but even he shuddered inwardly. He was saved from further scary grins (somewhat) when Naru came around the corner with a first aid kit. She observed the scene before her and inwardly cooed.

'_Awww, _kawaii_!'_

Gaara was now very uncomfortable under the stares of the two females. He glared back out of habit and shifted slightly. Naruto's eyes fluttered open and he yawned mightily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and wincing as the pain in his head came back full force.

'_Itai!'_

He immediately clutched his poor throbbing head, and Naru hurried forward with medical aid. Garra took the opportunity to grab Gaara from the floor and, with a wave to Naru, started dragging him off to find the others in his party.

* * *

-Hinata was not a happy person. In fact, she was pissed. Very pissed. 

"You mean to tell me that the same system that was destroyed in my world is still going on in your world? What the hell! Can't they see what inevitably happens when you create such a system? Literally enslaving your own family and lowering the self esteem of all considered weaker than they should be. WHAT THE HELL KIND OF FAMILY IS THAT?"

She was almost growling in her fury. Neji and Lee were slightly scared, but Lee was also impressed by her youthful fervor. Neji spoke.

"It's gotten a little better since I took the chuunin exam, but the elders of the clan are not particular to change."

-Hinata looked at him worriedly.

"You have the cursed seal, right? It's never been used against you, has it?"

"…No. Not yet."

Neji sounded slightly sad, and both his teammate and –Hinata felt sorry for him. Suddenly a rumble was heard in the distance. It came closer, and closer, and…

"HINA-CHAAAAAAN! XD"

A large mass of fur and muscle leaped into the air and landed… right on top of Neji and Lee, who were both too shocked to get out of the way. They found themselves crushed underneath the weight of a dog. Actually, it was more of a wolf/dog hybrid, but much larger than any known dog or wolf. It apparently did not notice what it had landed on.

"Are you okay Hina-chan? I could sense your distress from, like, a mile away! What happened, what happened, what happened?"

"…Kyoko, I think you're crushing Neji-kun and Lee-kun."

Kyoko looked down and was met with a wide pair of eyes and a pale pair of eyes. She cocked her head to the side in bemusement.

"Oops, sorry! Didn't see ya there, y'know?"

She quickly got off them and promptly shrunk to a smaller size, about the size of the average wolf. The two Konoha shinobi dusted themselves off and eyed the wolf/dog quizzically. They were not left in the dark for long. -Hinata patted the dog/wolf on the head and made the proper introductions.

"This is Kyoko. She's my friend and one of my cousins. She can be a bit… hyper, but that's just how she is."

Neji was confused.

"You have a… wolf/dog for a cousin?"

"Yep. It's kind of hard to explain… you'd have to ask Neji-neesan for a complete explanation. Also, Kyoko's more wolf than dog. Is it so strange to have wolfs as family?"

"…Yes, actually it is."

-Hinata cocked an eyebrow.

"Why would it be strange? The Inuzuka's consider their dogs as family. In fact, they're related to my pack. Yukiko-obasan took a mate from the Inuzuka's and so absorbed them into her family's pack and vice-versa. Kyoko's actually one of Yukiko-obasan's pups."

Both of the boys were very confused, but before they could ask for more clarification a somewhat familiar sounding rumbling occurred. They slowly looked skyward.

"_Uh oh."_

_

* * *

_  
Shika woke up from her nap when she heard a familiar, dreaded rumbling from the sky. Chouji went to wake up Shikamaru, while Shika sighed and resigned herself to her fate.

'_Mendokusai…'_

_

* * *

_  
The Gaaras found Temari and Kankuro but before they could say a word of greeting an ominous rumbling sound permeated the air. Garra sighed as she looked toward the sky.

'_We're off again? Never any time to rest…'_

_

* * *

_  
Naru gave Naruto his medicine and began rubbing ointment on his sore head. Naruto sighed with relief as his headache gradually left; he hadn't felt that much pain in a while. It was amazing how a simple blow to the head hurt almost as bad as a hand through the chest… like at the Valley of the End.

'_Sasuke…'_

"Naru-chan?"

"Hai, Naruto-nii?

"Do you know someone named Sasuke?"

"You mean 'Suke-chan?"

"…Sasuke's a girl here?"

Naruto snorted.

"As if. No, he's a boy. He's a pretty good guy I guess, but for some reason he's fun to torture. Even Shika goes after him."

Naruto was about to inquire into this interesting tidbit of information futher when they heard a rumbling sound and glanced toward the ceiling.

"Looks like it's time to go!"

* * *

All across the Yadoya people were sucked into the sky. Hinata and Kyoko, back in their homeworld, looked at one another. 

"-Kiba-kun just has to know about this."

* * *

The travelers soon found themselves back in Konoha; they landed in Tsunade's office, much to the surprise of both -Sakura and the Godaime. Tsunade breathed a sigh of relief. 

'_Looks like all the gaki made it back okay. Any new visitors…? Ah.'_

Tsunade pointed to Shika.

"A new arrival?"

Shika was no longer in her green kimono. Instead she was in a short grey kimono that reached to her mid-thigh and a pair of black pants. She also looked extremely annoyed and somewhat uncomfortable. She glanced at Tsunade.

"What else would I be?"

Then she turned to Garra.

"What kind of village did you say this was again?"

"A Shinobi village."

"…And we're dealing with demon infiltration generated by an unknown source?"

"Yep."

'_Mendokusai.'_

"…And I was brought into this why?"

"Probably because you're one of the best strategists we know, and also because you seriously need to sort out your little 'problem.'"

"I don't have a problem."

"Denial will only make it worse."

"I still don't know what you're talking about."

"…Idiot."

'_How can a genius be so stupid?'_

"Whatever."

'_Stop, Garra, I don't want to deal with this right now. Especially not here.'_

Some of the people present listened to this with more than a little bit of curiosity, especially one Nara Shikamaru and one Akimichi Chouji. Naru noticed and decided to change the topic.

"Hi -Sakura-basan! When did you get here?"

'…_gaki no baka (stupid brat). Oh well, I suppose 'basan' is better than 'baasan'…'_

"A little while ago. Where did you all end up?"

"At the Harusame. -Neji wasn't there, but I sensed -Hinata around. So, anything eventful happen while we were gone?"

-Sakura shook her head.

"Nothing at all."

"That means that we should probably expect something fairly soon."

All heads turned to Shika, who had adopted Shikamaru's customary 'thinking pose.'

"First, there was one attack, which was foiled by Naru and Garra, who are both classified as guardians. Second, they were sent on a trip, with others, to find reinforcements, mainly me. Third, there were no attacks while they were gone. This is probably because the person behind this had to adjust their plans to accommodate the variables that have suddenly popped up, mainly us. Now they'll begin to test strategies to see what the most affective course of action is, meaning that we should expect something soon. Also, we should expect more reinforcements to arrive, because these sort of things almost always turn into something of a 'family reunion,' or at least the closest we can get to one. Naru, Garra, and I should stick to forests because we will be the ones targeted first, and all demon and/or human encounters should be kept outside the town as they usually cause much property damage, and I don't think the residents would react too kindly to our presence. So, if we have the permission, we should leave to investigate right away."

Most were left slack jawed by the end of this commentary except for the two who were used to it. Even –Sakura was a little shocked.

'_For her to have that kind of knowledge immediately on hand means that she has experienced this first hand. What on earth has Shika-chan been through…?'_

The three girls were now staring expectantly at Tsunade. The Hokage collected herself and cleared her throat slightly.

"Shika-chan made an understandable argument. You have my permission to explore the forest, however I must insist that you take a few Konoha ninja with you for guidance and possibly an alibi should you meet anyone unexpectedly. You three will be splitting up, correct?"

When they nodded people began to volunteer.

"I'll go with Naru-chan!" Proclaimed Naruto cheerily.

"…I'll go with Garra." Deadpanned Gaara. Tsunade was about to argue, Gaara not being a Konoha citizen, but he sent her a death glare that reminded her that he was also the Kazekage, and she let it go.

"Chouji and I will go with Shika." Stated Shikamaru lazily.

Tsunade gave her consent and the six started off for the forest. -Sakura looked after them worriedly and stretched.

"Tsunade-sama, may I have access to any useful medicine technique scrolls you may have on hand? I have a feeling I will need them later."

This worried Tsunade a bit, but she led -Sakura to a pile of scrolls that were in complete disarray but had useful information in them. -Sakura sweatdropped and began to sort through the mess, hoping against hope that she wouldn't have to repeat the horrors of the last time she'd been with the three girls… except that time it had been four.

Neji and Lee left to find the other people who had been involved with this rapidly growing problem, and Temari and Kankuro returned to their hotel rooms to evaluate their present lives and exactly what had gone so wrong with their family.

* * *

Shika was not happy. In fact, she was very unhappy. 

'_Damn, why did Garra have to bring that up? I… I don't want to deal with it now. Of all places, why a ninja village? -Neji would slap me for saying this, but I think fate has a grudge against me or something… mendokusai. I wish I was back at the Onsen playing Shogi with someone…'_

Even worse, she had to put her hair down so that people wouldn't notice she was practiacally a carbon copy of Shikamaru. Now all she needed was a kunai and she would be back to the way she used to be…

'_Was it really that bad? Maybe. I'm still scared to go back and find out…'_

The three were quiet until they reached the forest. Shikamaru glanced at Shika, who's face was currently unreadable.

'_What's wrong with her? Women are so troublesome…'_

Shika sneezed. Her eye twitched dangerously.

'…_Someone just thought something sexist. Grr…'_

She was about to turn around to interrogate the two boys when she sensed something eerily familiar… Something that should never have been felt again.

"Duck!"

She quickly pulled the two boys down with her as three objects flew through the air where their necks had been and embedded themselves in the trees behind them. Shika turned around to confirm her suspicions. Embedded in the tree trunk were three extremely jagged shuriken, the kind designed to shred flesh to pieces, making a difficult recovery and causing much pain a blood loss. A weapon of torture; an all too familiar weapon…

"Shikamaru, I want you and Chouji to stay behind me at all times. Shikmaru, do you know a technique called kage mane no jutsu?"

Shikamaru nodded.

"Chouji, I want you to protect Shikamaru's back. Shikamaru, when the enemy gets in a position where you can use the kage mane no jutsu, do it. I'll take care of the rest. Understood?"

The two boys nodded, going into mission mode. Chouji took a kunai out of its holster and Shikamaru got into position, ready to use the kage mane no jutsu when needed. Seeing that the boys were in position, Shika took action.

"Come out. I know you're there… Kumano."

An eerie, menacing laugh came from the trees.

"Are you challenging me, little girl? Very well, I'll take the challenge. But first… how do you know of me?"

Shika smiled bitterly.

"Tsk Kumano, you don't remember me? How disappointing. Do you perhaps remember a town that you terrorized a couple of years ago? Girls around the neighborhood were being brutally murdered by a mysterious person. The police were clueless, and more girls were dying by the day. Sound familiar?"

The voice stayed quiet, and Shika took that as a sign to continue.

"After you killed a certain victim, some people decided to go after you. Remember them? Anyway, while they were fighting your cronies, another came to fight you. You died later. Now I'm wondering… what did I do wrong? I was sure you were dead. Mind telling me why you're alive?"

A large figure suddenly burst out of the bush; it was a man about six feet tall, with blazing red eyes and long blonde hair that reached to his back. His mouth was twisted into a scowl, and he was holding two jagged edged shuriken in his hands. He eyed Shika incredulously.

"You! What are you doing here? You killed me, but you should be dead as well! You little bitch!"

The man charged, his blonde hair billowing behind him like a silky banner; he slashed down with the shuriken in a blind rage. Shika dodged easily and his shuriken embedded themselves deep within the ground. Before he could yank them back out again Shikamaru took action.

"Kage mane no jutsu!"

Kumano found himself unable to move freely, and this enraged him even more. He tried with all of his might to move, and Shikamaru started to sweat with the strain of keeping him in the jutsu. Shika stared at Kumano coldly.

"So I did kill you. Why are you alive now?"

Kumano glared at her angrily.

"I don't know who he was. He resurrected me from the dead and told me to kill anyone I wished in this world. What happened to you, bitch? You should have died when you turned eleven! How are you still alive? And where are the scars?"

Shika regarded him coolly.

"I didn't die, as you can see. As for the other questions? I actually have no idea. But enough of this; I still have a promise to keep. Shikamaru, you can release the jutsu now."

Shikamaru looked at her like she was crazy, but released it anyway; she seemed to know what she was doing. The second he was free Kumano immediately wretched his weapons from the ground and charged at Shika with a roar. When he was upon her she suddenly grabbed his wrist and wrenched one of the weapons from his grip. In a powerful slash she severed his head from his neck, black bood gushing out of the wound and staining her outfit. The two boys watched with unconcealed horror as Shika walked over to the head and kneeled in front of it.

"That was for Kumako-chan."

She turned around and saw something headed right for Chouji. Her eyes widened and an unpleasant memory came to mind.

"Chouji-kun, look out!"

_Flashback_

_A eight year old Shika looked away, ashamed, as her friend –Chouji stared at her in horror. The boy eyed his friend's body, unable to look away from the ugly welts and cuts. _

"_Shika… why didn't you tell me…?"_

"_Because… I don't want you to get-_

_Before she could finish the sentence the door to her room bust open, and both kids looked into a pair of cold brown eyes._

"_Shika-chan… I told you what would happen if anyone found out… guess I have to teach you both a lesson, right?"_

"_Chouji-kun, look out!"_

_End flashback_

Shika pushed Chouji to the side and gritted her teeth as claws raked her arm, leaving five deep gashes. She whirled around to face the figure that had landed on the ground and immediately narrowed her eyes.

"…You…"

The figure was wrapped in a black cloak that obscured its whole body. All they could see where a pair of glowing black eyes.

"Hello Shika-chan, nice to see you again. I can't linger, unfortunately, but I'll be seeing you later. You can count on it."

Before any of them could move the figure disappeared. The boys looked over at Shika and noticed that she was shaking. At first they thought it was with fear, since her hair was covering her face, but when she looked up they noticed that it was a completely different emotion. She was shaking with pure, raw, unadulterated fury. Then it was gone, replaced with concern as she looked at Chouji.

"Are you okay, Chouji-kun?"

'_Kami, I almost let it happen again…'_

Chouji nodded shakily.

"Hai, I'm okay Shika-chan."

'_You're the one who's bleeding… because you tried to save me.'_

Shikamaru was taking deep breathes to calm himself down.

'_Fuck, that was scary. Even scarier than the save Sasuke misson. Why was Shika so angry with that figure…?'_

_

* * *

_  
Naru stopped suddenly.

"I smell blood."

Naruto was instantly alert.

"Do you know who?"

"…Shika."

The two blondes immediately set off in the direction of the scent.

* * *

Garra sensed an immense anger radiating out, and immediately stopped where she was. Gaara looked at her quizzically as she ran off in another direction, but decided to follow her. Garra was a bit worried. 

'_What in the world would cause Shika to give off such a strong reaction? I've never felt her so angry… I wish -Neji was here…'_

_

* * *

_  
When the four arrived at the scene they found Shika splattered in black blood. Chouji was trying to convince her to at least clean the wound, while Shikamaru calmly explained to her the danger of blood loss and infection. Shika, however, was impatient.

"I know all that! Trust me, I've fucking had a lot more dangerous wounds than these and I'm telling you that it can wait! We just gained some important information, dammit! Now let's go!"

"So what'd you find out? How did you get that wound?"

Shika turned to Garra.

"We have a major problem on our hands. We have to tell the Hokage ASAP. Can you take us there Garra?"

Gaara nodded and transported them back to the office in a swirl of sand. In the office was Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, and the remaining people who knew what was happening. -Sakura stared at the gashes on Shika's arm.

"Shika-chan, what happened?"

Shika ignored her and turned to Garra and Naru.

"Someone's resurrecting dead demons and sending them here. Today I saw two of them; one of them confessed before I killed him, and the other… She should be dead."

Shika's hair was covering her face so that no one could see her expression, but Garra and Naru could sense the absolute hatred contained in those last three words. Everyone else in the room was stunned. Naru turned to Tsunade.

"Baachan, do you know anyone who could possibly know a technique to raise the dead?"

Tsunade slowly let her head drop into her hands. There was no way…

"The only person I know who has been capable of doing that is… Orochimaru.

TBC

* * *

Dun Dun Dun! I hope u enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for the next exciting segment! 

Please Review, it inspires me greatly.


	9. Chapter 8

Here I am again, Sorry it took me so long to update!

Disclaimer: All Naruto characters and Konoha belong to Kishimoto Masahi

* * *

Naruto lay on his bed, arms folded behind his head. Eyes closed, he thought over what Tsunade had told everyone earlier. 

"_The only person I know who has been capable of doing that is… Orochimaru."_

She had then explained who Orochimaru was to those who did not know, and Naruto's thoughts were left in turmoil. Thinking about the snake man filled his head with unpleasant memories and images, and with a face that haunted both his waking and dreaming thoughts…

"Sasuke…"

"What about Sasuke?"

Naruto's eyes flew open and he sat up, startled, having forgotten about the newest edition to his humble abode. Naru stared at him curiously, seated backwards on a chair taken from the kitchen area. Twin sets of stunning blue met and one looked away, knowing the other wanted a thorough explanation. Naruto took a breath to steady himself; talking about… that… always upset him.

"…The Sasuke from here went with Orochimaru because he wanted power to kill his older bother Itachi, who slaughtered their clan. The five of, Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji, Kiba, and I, we tried to stop him but he chose to go anyway… almost killing me in the process."

The boy's eyes were in shadow as he spoke and for a moment he looked down, remembering. Naru ached to comfort him somehow, but she knew he had to finish first.

"Then Sakura-chan and I tried to bring 'im back again… and he tried to kill us. No, he wanted to kill us, but the snake bastard made him stop. Sasuke… was a rival, a friend, a brother to me. He was the first to see me as someone worth fighting, someone to compete against. He was lonely… is lonely… like me."

The blonde looked like he wanted to say more, but was unable to. He was hit by an emotional block, and his body started to shake violently. If there was one thing Naruto wanted to do now, it was to cry. But, early in life, he had found that crying never did any good. He would cry in his room when he was little, alone, pouring out his soul in drops of salty liquid. Crying never accomplished anything. It was better to hide behind a smile, a false joy, and delude himself into thinking that he was happy. Maybe he was, in a way, but he knew that inside he still felt the pain of loneliness. Maybe that was why he really stopped crying; not because he believed in himself more, but because… crying with no one to wipe away your tears, no one to comfort you… It was hell. Utter hell. He felt hands on his shoulders and looked up. Naru stared into his eyes, noticing the utter loneliness, the desperation, the sadness, and the sheen of tears unshed. It broke her heart.

"Naruto-nii…"

She wrapped her arms around the trembling form, supporting him. His shaking grew worse.

"It's okay to cry… someone's here for you, so it's okay to cry. Crying alone is hell but… if you keep it bottled up forever it destroys you from the inside. Sometimes it's okay… to let down your barriers."

That was all it took. A single tear tread a path down a whiskered cheek, and soon Naruto was sobbing on her shoulder, his cry's echoing through the small apartment. Fifteen years of bottled up emotion, pan, isolation, abandonment, anger, sadness, heartbreak, jealousy, betrayal… It all came out, wracking his entire body with sobs. She held him through it all, staying silent and just offering a comforting presence. Eventually the tears stopped flowing and Naruto just sat in her embrace, exhausted, eyes puffy and red. Naru felt him relax.

"Better?"

"Naru-chan… Arigato."

"Go to sleep, okay?"

"Hai."

* * *

Shika sat beneath a tree, looking at the fading sun as it lit the dying sun with a background of orange, pink, and blue. She had escaped to the spot after flat out refusing proper medical care and jumping out the window, much to –Sakura's extreme horror. After washing and bandaging the cut herself she'd sat down to watch nature's art at work in living color. However, some urgent thoughts were distracting her from the view. 

'_So either she actually survived or Orochimaru raised her from the dead. I haven't felt much different so maybe she doesn't have control over _it_ anymore… the problem is, I'm having _that,_ soon… all I can hope is that she doesn't' come when _its_ happening…'_

She noticed someone approach and relaxed when she realized who it was. She looked up at the sky as he irritably came up behind her and stood there.

"Do you know that it took me a couple of hours to figure out where you went? It was really bothersome."

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, unaffected by his plight.

"You found me eventually though, didn't you? No need to get so annoyed. Come sit and enjoy the sunset."

"Mendokusai…"

Shikamaru sat down anyway and rested his head on his knees. Shika went from sitting to lying down in the grass.

"So what happened after I left?"

"You missed your pink friend flipping out and ranting about proper wound treatment and knowing when to let a doctor do her job and so on. She's really loud… Also, Tsunade-sama arranged housing for you all."

"And?"

"For obvious reasons you're with me. Explaining this to my parents is going to be really troublesome…"

"I'm staying out here."

"…No you're not; you're going to my house."

"No I'm not."

"Hokage's orders."

"…Do I look like I care?"

"Well, why the hell not?"

Shikamaru was getting understandably annoyed. Why the hell was Shika refusing to stay at his house?

"Because… if your mom looks like mine did, I wouldn't be able to handle that. And what about your dad? Does he look like mine did? Yours might be nice, but mine ditched after learning that he was going to be a father. I know nothing about him, except that he's one of the reasons mom got so fucked up. I've finally gotten into a somewhat normal state of mind, I don't want to shatter it unnecessarily. Sorry, but I'm staying here."

She turned onto her side away from him, signifying the end of that particular discussion. Shikamaru felt kind of bad; hell, he hadn't meant to bring something like that up. He then remembered that Tsunade had told him to stick with his charge at all times, no matter what. That meant…

"You do know that this means I have to stay out here too?"

"Be my guest."

"…My mom is going to bitch at me in the morning for not coming home."

"Too bad."

She tossed him a blanket. When or where she'd gotten it, he didn't know.

"Night."

"…Night." _'You're evil…_'

* * *

Gaara woke up and wasn't surprised to see Garra staring at him. He'd slept for about an hour, but she hadn't slept at all so far. He noticed that it was a curious stare. 

"Gaara… do you and your siblings get along?"

Gaara was slightly startled by the question, something that hadn't been asked before. The question confused him slightly. Did they get along? They tolerated each other, certainly, but admittedly they didn't get along that well. The Akatsuki event suddenly popped up in his mind, and he remembered the genuine worry that his siblings had shown. They'd certainly gone a long way from their genin days, when he didn't care about them and they were terrified of him…

"I… don't really know. We… I'm… trying to get to know them better. I guess it's hard to get attached when your little brother's a former psychopath killer."

"You really should try. Family's important… It hurts when you lose it."

"…Are they dead?"

Right after he asked the question, Gaara saw the uncertainty in Garra's eyes.

"…I don't know. I… don't know. "

"Why?"

She looked at him and something dark was haunting her eyes.

"Because I haven't seen them since I was plunged into that hell."

Gaara didn't ask. It was obvious she didn't really want to talk about it right now, and he respected that.

* * *

Somewhere, someone was waiting. He thought he sensed someone familiar, far in the distance. His eyes narrowed as he leaped into a tree and started traveling that way. There was only one thing on his mind… 

'_Could she be here…? If so…I must kill you. For good this time.'_

_TBC_

_

* * *

_There you go, sorry it took so long! Gomen

Review Please.


	10. Chapter 9

Yeah, this is ubeta'd cuz I wanted to get it out before I leave... I'll replace it with beta'd version later, huge thanks to **kakashinu**, my wonderful beta! Oh yeah, and I changed female Gaara's name to Garra, cuz it's easier and sounds the same. Oh, and i'll be gone at choir camp from the 6-16.

Disclaimer: Naruto and all attached characters and places are property of Kishimoto Masahi.

* * *

Both of the Gaara's woke up at the same time, wondering when exactly they had fallen asleep. Awakened by their movement, Temari and Kankuro sat up too, wondering exactly when they had traveled to the middle of a desert. Sand stretched as far as the eye could see, and the sun beat down mercilessly on the four. Gaara looked at Garra and was surprised to see tears running down her face. 

"This… this is… I can sense…"

The girl started running, some incessant force driving her across the scorching sands. The other three immediately went after her, trying to keep up with her rapid speed. Faster, faster… then they reached the top of a sand dune, revealing what lay on the other side. A house was down there, all alone. It had a small garden and someone was currently in it, bent over the little green shoots. Garra's tears increased.

"ONEECHAN!"

The figure immediately stiffened and whirled around, catching sight of the figure above. In a swirl of sand Gaara was down there, only a few feet away from the girl. They stared at each other, before the figure spoke.

"…Garra…?"

A single tear ran down her face.

"**GARRA**!"

She quickly closed the short distance between them, hugging the younger girl tightly and burying her head in her shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Garra… Garra… you're back… imoto…"

Garra was crying too, holding onto the older girl as tight as she could.

"-Temari-neesan… I m-missed you… so much."

* * *

The three Suna siblings sat awkwardly on a couch, facing -Temari. After the two sisters crying had calmed down, -Temari had noticed the other three and became very confused. Garra had explained a little and asked where her bother was. -Temari's face grew a little sad. 

"He wasn't the same after you disappeared… Most days he's out somewhere and only comes back for meals, sleep and training. "

Garra looked concerned.

"I think I know where he went…"

So Garra had gone off by herself, leaving the three siblings behind with her big sister. The three stared at -Temari, marveling at the differences. She was wearing black jeans and a short-sleeved fishnet shirt, with a grey halter top that had the kanji for 'wind' embroidered on it in black. On her hands were fingerless black gloves, and she had two fans hanging from her belt. Also, her hair was in a half ponytail instead of four ponytails. She stared at the other three, her face unreadable. Kankuro was the first to break the silence.

"This is… a nice place you've got here."

His two siblings nodded in agreement, the house was almost immaculately clean, and not at all cluttered. -Temari smiled a little.

"Thanks. My brother and I built it ourselves… after Garra disappeared. We burnt down the old one.

* * *

Gaara ran swiftly over the sand, relishing the feel of the grains underneath her feet and the burning sun overhead. She spotted the familiar entrance to a cave, one only she and her brother knew about… their special place. She slowed down and walked into the entrance, overcome with nostalgia. She could see his familiar silhouette, bent over, no doubt working on one of his many puppets. A lump formed in her throat, and she could barely get the words out. 

"O-oniichan?"

He stopped working and stood up slowly. She noticed that he was considerably taller that he'd been before, towering over her by at least a good six inches. His back was still turned, so she walked up hesitantly and placed a hand on his back.

"Kanky-nii?"

There was another pause, and she suddenly found herself swept up into familiar strong arms, her legs dangling a few inches from the ground.

"Garra…"

She smiled softly and returned the strong embrace, feeling the tears from his face stain her shirt.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too, Niichan."

* * *

The three stared at -Temari incredulously. This time Temari was the first to speak. 

"Y-you burned your own house down? Why?"

The other girl smiled cheerfully.

"It had too many bad memories. It also served as my father's funeral pyre."

Temari and Kankuro blanched while Gaara raised an eyebrow in interest. Before they could ask just what the hell she talking about, -Kankuro and Garra came through the door, Garra hanging happily off her big brother's shoulders. Kankuro looked up at the other one surprised, this guy was tall. He had to be at least six feet. He was wearing a tan, short-sleeved t-shirt and long, baggy black shorts. His face was void of any paint and he had no head covering. He raised an eyebrow at the new occupants of the house; Garra had told him about the whole 'traveling worlds' thing and he knew what to expect, but it was surprising nonetheless. The girl seemed a tad more girly than his sister, but he could tell they both had the same violent tendencies. The guy who looked like him wore the same face paint he'd worn back in his younger days.

'_Bet he wears it for a completely different reason than I did though…' _He thought humorlessly, almost wincing when he remembered Garra's expression when she'd found out exactly why he had started wearing it. And the last boy, Gaara… he'd probably had a hard childhood and former homicidal tendencies which were gone now and probably wouldn't resurface except in the midst of battle. Also, the three didn't seem all that close.

'_Interesting. Would love to know how their lives were compared to ours…'_

_

* * *

_  
Naruto felt refreshed when he woke up. Not only that, he felt a bit calmer, a bit better prepared, a bit… stronger.

'_Naru-chan was right… it is good to cry, as long as you're not alone.'_

He turned to find her still asleep on a futon on the floor.

'_Eh, guess I'll let her sleep a little longer.' _

He got up, showered, and dressed. Then he went over to the sleeping blonde.

"Oi, Naru! Time to wake up!"

She slowly opened an eye to look at him.

"Five more minutes, Naruto-nii…"

"C'mon, you're wasting the day!"

With a groan Naru opened both her eyes and sat up, rubbing at one sleepily with a fist.

"'Kay, I'm up, I'm up…"

Two bowls of ramen later the two were walking down the street, in the direction of the Hokage tower. Tsunade had told them that while they were in this world they would help the others with regular missions, just to keep them busy. The girls had readily agreed, so now they were on their way to get the mission scroll. Their appearance caused a bit of a stir among the villagers.

"Who's that with the Kyuubi brat?"

"I've never seen her before… and look at the resemblance!"

"Family, perhaps?"

"That demon doesn't have any family, remember?"

"So who's that girl?"

"And why's she with the demon brat…?"

Naru grabbed Naruto's hand tightly and pretty much pulled him down the street, away from the whispers and ugly looks. She was almost crying.

"Are they… always like that?"

Instead of putting on his fake smile, Naruto downcast his eyes.

"Hai. It doesn't hurt as much as it used too, but it still happens everyday."

"…They would hate this place."

Naruto looked up questionably.

"They?"

"A lot of people I know. Just because someone's a demon, or has a demon inside them or whatever, it doesn't mean they're bad. I hate closed minded people… which most humans seem to be, unfortunately."

They reached the tower and went up to Tsunade's office. -Sakura was helping Tsunade with papers and trying to clean the office up a little bit. Tsunade glanced at the two.

"Hello. Instead of giving you two a scroll, I'm assigning a simple mission… Go find Shikamaru and Shika. Apparently neither went to the Nara household last night."

On their way out Naruto looked at Naru.

"What do you think happened?"

"Shika probably wanted to sleep outside."

"Huh?"

"… I dunno, she has some issues. The only one who can really handle her is Neji-chan, and she's not here."

"Okay… So which way do you think they went?"

"Well, we've gotta follow Shika's trail. She went… this way."

"How do you know?"

"I can smell her."

"…What are you, an Inuzuka?"

Naru smiled knowingly.

"Not quite. I'm a fox, not a dog."

"What?"

"Let's move along, shall we?"

* * *

Shikamaru groaned as his eyelids were hit with almost blinding sunlight. 

'_Aren't curtains good for anything…? Wait a second, this doesn't feel like a bed… Oh yeah.'_

The lazy nin sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes and looking for his companion.

'_Now where did she go…?'_

"Looking for me?" came an amused voice from above him. Squinting, he saw her sitting in the tree above, resting contentedly against the trunk.

"We're going to have visitors soon, FYI."

"As long as it's not my mother, I don't particularly care."

"SHIKAMARU!"

The kage nin winced as an incredibly loud, shrill voice pounded his eardrums.

"Why are you guys here? Tsunade-baachan sent us to look for you guys!"

"Being difficult again, Shika?"

Shika sent her friend a quick glare.

"No, I just didn't particularly feel like having a mental breakdown."

"..Oh. Y'know, maybe you should talk to N-"

"C'mon you guys, let's get back to Tsunade-baachan!"

The four began to head back to the Hokage tower, Naru shooting Shika worried glances as the other ignored them.

'_How long are you gonna hide from us, Shika?'_

_TBC_

_

* * *

_

There you go folks, lets see what happens from here, ne?

Review Please!


End file.
